Spring is finally here, but we’re busy planning Cafe Racer’s biggest event of the summer- our 12th Annual Reader’s Ride-In Custom Show. Get those handbuilt speedbikes ready as the event happens at Sewickley’s War memorial park on Sunday, August...
Sponsored Content From Best western Inn of The Ozarks The expression, “There’s nowhere quite like it,” is one of those overused phrases people say a lot. However, when folks are talking about historic downtown Eureka Springs, you can take them at their word. They are,...
We’re in the habit of picking up old Britbike engines around here, be it for better or for financial ruination. Delving into the old air-cooled parallel twin motors is always a fascinating learning process as the pool of active restorers dwindles with each...
I was fortunate enough to work alongside pro roadracer Eric Bostrom during the taping of Velocity’s “Cafe Racer” TV series and a more intelligent, thoughtful rider I’ve never met. Bostrom raced for 25 incredible years at the highest echelons of...
For our upcoming special Style Issue due out April 1, we’ve been delving deep into our files of classic and contemporary images to chronicle both the form and function of custom cafe racers. We came across one of our very favorite bikes of recent years, one that...
Te’re currently working hard to bring you our first-ever special issue of Cafe Racer dedicated to style. Whether it be the unmistakably cool look of ton-up riding gear or the svelte, purposeful lines of a classic cafe bike, Brawny, Ducati street missile from...
Inspired By Custom, For Custom. That’s the official tag line for Royal Enfield’s Shotgun 650, the Indian firm’s latest incarnation of their globally-popular, parallel twin lineup. The Shotgun was released last summer and immediately seduced custom motorcycle enthusiasts with its voluptuous lines, frisky performance and easy adaptability. RE kept things real with the Shotgun, avoiding… Read more: Shotgun Central
The stopping and cornering capabilities of our 1974 Norton Commando 850 has been improved in ways the engineers at the British factory could have never imagined. High-tech running gear was molasses-in-January slow to reach British motorcycles back in the 1960s and ’70s, even though disc brakes had been standard issue on many British cars and… Read more: Give Us A Brake
Story by Mike Seate • Photos by Nikki Marie Photography As British manufacturers discovered more than half a century ago, line-ups can expand quite easily by designing new motorcycles around existing engine platforms. Indian’s Royal Enfield struck sales gold in 2018 with their versatile 650cc parallel twin engine introduced in the Continental GT cafe racer… Read more: FIRST RIDE Royal Enfield Shotgun 650
CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE Differentiating different batteries: A traditional AGM or sealed lead acid battery (1) is larger and far heavier than a Firepower lithium cell battery (2), which is equipped with a built-in LED test light, and the tiny Shorai lithium battery (3). Story and Photos by Mike Seate We’ve experienced a love-loathe… Read more: CR TECH Lithium Batteries Explained
Story by Mike Seate • Photos by Nikki Marie Photography As British manufacturers discovered more than half a century ago, line-ups can expand quite easily by designing new motorcycles around existing engine platforms. Indian’s Royal Enfield struck sales gold in 2018 with their versatile 650cc parallel twin engine introduced in the Continental GT cafe racer… Read more: FIRST RIDE Royal Enfield Shotgun 650
